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Hello! Project

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Hello! Project is an umbrella term to refer to the female idols managed by Up-Front Agency and Tsunku. Major groups in the Project are Morning Musume (the flagship and longest running group), ANGERME (formerly S/mileage), Juice=Juice, Country Girls, and Kobushi Factory, with former Morning Musume members Aika Mitsui and Sayashi Riho as its current soloists. There are also numerous sub-units and Hello! Pro Kenshuusei (formerly Hello! Pro Egg), a training program for young girls looking to become full-fledged idols under the Project. Each group has their own unique sound and members, with no two songs sounding the same.

The current line up's ages range from 10 to 24, with every kind of girl you could think of. A lot of them also do things outside of singing, such as acting, hosting TV shows, etc.

Authority in Name Only: The Leaders and especially Sub-Leaders of groups sometimes act as peacekeepers if there's a falling out between members of their group and on game show appearances they may pick who competes if appropriate. However they are just The Face of the Band, if that, in regards to the actual music.

Awesome, but Impractical: Became an Enforced Trope a few times when Ayaka had her "Chinese cafe" gimmick for her English lessons segment on Hello Morning; she wore a tight Chinese style dress which looked great, but she couldn't dance properly in it when asked by Ai Takahashi or Nozomi Tsuji. Her attempts to do so anyway when bullied into it by the latter are Funny Moments.

Awesome Moment of Crowning: When the Elder Club graduated Yuko Nakazawa, the very first leader of Morning Musume, passed on Leadership of Hello!Project to Ai Takahashi.

Rika Ishikawa once broke 12 concrete tiles with a single blow from her bare hands! Sure, it turned out they were especially designed to break, but when Ai Takahashi tried to do the same thing on another show she failed miserably until she resorted to stamping on the stack instead.

Bad Boss: When ever a favourite member graduates suddenly or a unpopular girl is hired a certain section of the fans usually accuses Tsunku since he is the person directly responsible for Hello Project (though he still answers to the company president).

Bavarian Fire Drill: Used as a prank on Morning Musume during an episode of Utaban (they faked an actual fire with smoke and alarms going off). This leads in to what is effectively a Public Service Announcement to make sure they and the viewer know what to do in the event of an earthquake or other disaster.

JunJun was pretty well known as being a straight talker, especially compared to Japanese norms of etiquette.

Sayumi Michishige's "poison-tongue" character shows shades of this sometimes.

But We Used a Condom: Nozomi Tsuji announced her pregnancy in May 2007. In one of the interviews, she said "we used a condom, but it broke."

Call-Back: In the original "Joshi Kashimashi Monogatari" and one of the Elder Club versions, Mari Yaguchi's part refers to the lyrics of "Koi no Dance Site".

Casting Gag: In 2016, Juice=Juice starred as the fictional idol group NEXT YOU in the TV drama adaptation of the novel Budokan. The novel was written by Hello! Project fanboy Ryo Asai, who based the story elements on UP-FRONT PROMOTION (renamed "GREEN-UP PROMOTION" in-universe) and real Hello! Project idols (Sayuki's character was inspired by Kanon Suzuki).

Cool Old Lady: Yuko Nakazawa. Okay, so she's not that old but there is a significant age difference compared to some other former members: for instance, she is about 13 years older than Ai Kago. Even more so 2014-onwards, now that some members of the current lineup were born after Yuko had already graduated. To reiterate, most of the girls in the current lineup are young enough to be Yuko's daughters!

Cover Version: Morning Musume's Chokkan 2 single was originally an album track with a slightly different name. Producer Tsunku has covered various H!P songs. A lot of cover versions also appear as b-sides and album tracks. Not to mention the FOLK SONGS and Douyou Pops series...

"Joshi Kashimashi Monogatari" has had about 7 covers using the same music and chorus, but entirely rewritten verses in each version.

Eri Kamei and Risa Niigaki both released solo albums comprised entirely of them covering HP songs.

On the other end of the spectrum, Koharu Kusumi's "Koi kana" becomes Laura Vanamo's "Se tunne". That's not Japanese, that's Finnish!

During Aya Matsuura's 2 Alo-Hello DVDs she does an "Aloha" acoustic version (with a ukulele accompaniment) of one of her songs, though neither song was ever actually released as a CD.

In the drama Brementown Musicians, Mika Todd and Nozomi Tsuji both sing versions of a song called "Kasa ga Nai".

Crazy Cultural Comparison: Coconuts Musume was formed and marketed as the group from Hawaii. Jun Jun and Lin Lin joined Morning Musume for much the same reason, except they were aimed at the mainland Asian market.

Crosscast Role: Happened a lot during Hello Morning Theatre skits due to the fact the cast was made entirely of girls, particularly to Yossey.

Also happened in several PVs.

The Cutie: They're idols, so all of them are either cute or beautiful, but Michishige Sayumi probably fits the actual description of the trope the best.

Rika Ishikawa also played this trope too on and off — mainly on — especially when she was younger. It may be argued that Ishikawa (as Charmy) and Michishige are actually Kawaiiko and just think they're The Cutie.

Ai Takahashi, particularly in the segments of Haro Pro News where she dressed up in cute costumes like as a Cat Girl, which caused either a Cuteness Proximity or, in for masculine costumes such as a biker, a Ho Yay reaction in co-host Yuko Nakazawa that sometime led to her seeming to be Distracted by the Sexy, and jealousy from Supercaster Charmy Ishikawa.

Ai Kago, especially as she went on to suffer a Break the Cutie that took her a few years to come back from.

Saki Nakajima

Darker and Edgier: One of Hitomi Yoshizawa and Rika Ishikawa's post-Musume projects was a Punk Lolita styled J Rock group called Hangry & Angry, which was VERY dark compared to their work in Morning Musume. However, it wasn't actually a part of Hello Project, but they were still under the Up Front Works banner.

A Day in the Limelight: Asami Konno and Sayumi Michishige were only leads for one single, "Namida ga Tomaranai Houkago". This has happened with other members, too.

"Oh my wish!" is this for Kanon Suzuki and Haruka Kudo. Suzuki's case in this is notable, as it came after the controversy from her not appearing in the MVs for the previous single (due to an injured foot — she was replaced by Karin Miyamoto of Juice=Juice, who got more screentime than any other member.)

Distracted by My Own Sexy: According to Miki Fujimoto, among others, her best friend Aya Matsuura would quite often be distracted during conversations if she saw herself in a mirror or on a monitor. Aya admitted to it at least once.

Natsumi Abe: You seem like the type of person that likes looking in mirrors.

2009, when the Elder Club members graduated from Hello! Project, leaving only the younger artists in Morning Musume, Berryz Kobo, °C-ute, Erina Mano, and the trainees. Yuko Nakazawa passed leadership to Ai Takahashi.

Explored thoroughly with Coconuts Musume, as well as its two bilingual members Mika and Ayaka teaching random English phrases to other H!P singers. If the member in question was Ai Kago, Mari Yaguchi or Nozomi Tsuji, then Hilarity Ensues.

An episode of Sanma No Manma featuring Morning Musume turned into a discussion of what animals are called in Chinese.

Gamer Chick: Ai Takahashi (who has been seen with a pink - natch - Nintendo DS in at least one episode of Hello! Morning), Sayumi Michishige (whose proficiency at Tetris is listed among her special skills), and Chisato Okai (who has made blog posts about playing video games).

Mari Yaguchi has done an advertising campaign for Nintendo's Wii and DS, and also had a regular column in Famitsu magazine.

Genki Girl: Quite a few. Makoto Ogawa 's status as one is even lampshaded in the first version of "Joshi Kashimashi Monogatari".

Genre-Busting: Although lyrically there is a tendency towards ballads, Silly Love Songs or breakup songs, the styles of music have been as diverse as big band ("Mr. Moonlight ~ Ai No Big Band" by Morning Musume), rap ("Get Up! Rapper" by Salt 5)note Well, it was an attempt at rap, but it ended up sounding more like dancehall and pop punk ("Aoi Sports Car no Otoko" by Aoiro 7)

Identical Stranger: RuRu of T&C Bomber and Ai Kago of Morning Musume look very alike, though usually the former is said to look like an older version of the latter, and more recent pictures of Kago really show that claim to be quite accurate.

Intentionally Awkward Title: 99% of the names of EVERYTHING. Barely avoided with "Brainstorming", which very nearly saw release under the abbreviated name "Buresuto" (say it out loud.)

Intergenerational Friendship: Some of the older members are friends with the younger ones. Sayumi Michishige is the most prime example, especially when she became the sole 6th gen member amongst the rest of the younger girls.

Takashi Okamura probably deserves a mention here too. Though obviously not a member, much of the comedy from segments he did alongside H!P members comes from his acting like a Jerkass, espcially towards Mari Yaguchi but she didn't always let him get away with it.

Notable members include Sayumi Michishige, the longest-serving Morning Musume member at 11 years, and the members of Hello! Project Kids who joined in 2002 and stayed for at least ten years before they graduated. Berryz Kobo was active for 11 years and °C-ute, 12 years.

Meddling Parents: Apparently some parents didn't want their daughters to become idols.

Meganekko: H!P Egg Manami Arai and Melon Kinenbi member Megumi Murata used to wear glasses just for show.

Miki Fujimoto wears glasses; seemingly they are reading glasses as she doesn't have them on all the time, but they appear in the PV for "Joshi Kashimashi Monogatari".

In the PV for "Love Machine" all the members are seen wearing glasses. It's also a fairly overt example of Fanservice, along with most other images in the PV. In the Studio PV for "Love Machine", Kei Yasuda is wearing reading glasses.

Also one of the costumes Ayaka Kimura wore for her surprise English lessons segment on Hello Morning.

Multiple Demographic Appeal: Junjun and Linlin were added to Morning Musume in 2007 as part of Up-Front Works' strategy to help Morning Musume expand across Asia, starting with the Chinese music market. Short-lived groups like Aiko and Frances, as well as Ice Creamusume, were also established with the same goal. Unfortunately, they ultimately failed to break in China, citing piracy as the reason for low sales, and decided to abort these plans around 2010.

Minor Major Character: Some of the leaders weren't front girls, but they were the ones who held the groups together.

Ms. Fanservice: Once Aya Matsuura and Miki Fujimoto formed GAM, every costume they wore was designed to show off their legs.

Multicolored Hair: Some of Masae Ohtani's hairstyles. Risako Sugaya also dipped into this trope near the end of Berryz Koubou's run, with hair colors ranging from red to blonde to lavender.

Never Got to Say Goodbye: Country Musume member Hiromi Yanagihara died in a car crash. Several members also left unexpectedly.

New Sound Album: Morning Musume tends to swing back and forth from bubblegum pop to more mature music depending on how old the members of the group are. (Currently their style is more heavily influenced by electronic dance music.)

Several former members have made albums outside the bubblegum J Pop that Hello! Project is famous for. Ai Kago and Mika Todd both made solo jazz albums, Rika Ishikawa and Hitomi Yoshizawa fronted a Darker and Edgier pop punk group called Hangry & Angry, and Maki Goto's solo albums, though still pop, are much Hotter and Sexier than her work in Hello Project groups.

S/mileage/ANGERME's songs have evolved over the years from being cutesy and childlike, to genki and upbeat, to more mature and cooler.

For their newest single in November 2015, two of the A-sides have a hardcore rock style.

Nice Hat: In addition to Kei Yasuda's hat in "Renai Revolution 21", there was some attractive haberdashery on display in the videos for "Koi no Dance Site" and "Kimagure Princess".

No Sense of Personal Space: Yuko Nakazawa was well known for embarrassing the other members of Morning Musume by kissing them unexpectedly (especially NatsumiAbe), though it's not so much that she doesn't have a sense of personal space, it's more that she doesn't care. Sayumi Michishige also had a habit of doing this to Ai Takahashi and Riho Sayashi during concerts.

Odango Hair: While they were in Mini Moni Mari Yaguchi, Ai Kago and Nozomi Tsuji all wore their hair like this. Tsuji wore hers with twintails, while the others had them without.

During some of Ayaka's English lesson segments, she had a "Chinese Cafe" where she wore a Chinese style dress and had Odango Hair.

One Head Taller: A few members, notably Hitomi Yoshizawa and Kaori Iida, tend to stand out amongst the short statures of the rest of the group, especially compared to the likes of Mari Yaguchi. Junjun also had more than 16 centimetres (roughly 6 inches) on Reina Tanaka.

Yurina Kumai of Berryz Koubou towered over the majority of Hello! Project with a height of 176cm. Or is it 178? She's freakishly tall for a teenage Japanese girl, let's just leave it at that.

Volleyball player and Olympian Motoko Obayashi, who is 182cm, released a single under the name "Deka Moni" (Huge Moni). While not officially under Hello Project, the single was produced by Tsunku and included a cover of Mini Moni's "Jankenpyon".

Inverted by Mini Moni (Mari Yaguchi, Ai Kago, Nozomi Tsuji and Mika Todd, then Ai Takahashi replaced Yaguchi when she left.) Their gimmick was that they were all no more than 150cm (about 4ft 11 inches) tall when the group first came together.

Otaku: Hardcore Fanboys, called wota, collect special edition CDs and merchandising (photobooks, calendars, etc.), and try to go to as many concerts and "handshake events" as possible. At concerts they wave glowsticks or perform elaborate cheering and dancing routines called wotagei.

Tenshin Mukai is a comedian who sometimes shows up on variety shows that Mari Yaguchi is on, acting as an obsessiveotaku.

The first A-side for Ai's last single: "Kono Chikyuu no Heiwa no Honki de Negatterun da yo!" (I'm Really Hoping for Peace on Earth!) Which was then paired with the slightly shorter, though no less unwieldy, "Kare to Issho ni Omise ga Shitai!" (I Want to Open a Shop With My Boyfriend!)

S/mileage's "Onaji Jikyuu de Hataraku Tomodachi no Bijin Mama".

Pimped-Out Dress: Common in concerts (especially graduation concerts, where the departing girl's dress is more pimped out than any of the others') and music videos.

Pretty in Mink: Kaori Iida plays it very straight in the PV for "I WISH" where she wears a fur coat. Some of the costumes in the PV for "Renai Revolution 21" are also fur lined — Kei Yasuda's includes a furry stetson.

Pint-Sized Powerhouse: Although she's short, Takahashi Ai has shown in several ways that she can be an awesome girl.

Tamura Meimi can also count as this. While she normally acts cute, whenever she's performing/singing/acting, her voice will noticeably change and she can belt out really strong notes, and often (depending on her role/the feel of the song) gains a badass attitude.

Pyrrhic Victory: A personal one for Tsunku. After his laryngeal cancer came back, he had his vocal cords surgically removed. To reiterate, he had to sacrifice his voice in order to fight his cancer. As a result, he can never speak again.

The Runner-Up Takes It All: In 1997 Tsunku ran a competition to find a new rock vocalist that was won by Heike Michiyo, he later decided to create an all girl group made up of the five runners up and challenged them to sell 50000 copies of their first single with only five promotional events, they managed it in four and Morning Musume went on to be incredibly successful.

Softer and Slower Cover: For S/mileage's musical "SMILE FANTASY", Wada Ayaka sang a solo rendition of the group's song "Ama no Jaku". The original is very upbeat and cutesy, and considered a Tsundere song given the lyrics, but in the musical, it's slowed down, accompanied with soft piano and strings, and Ayaka's tone and expressions make the meaning of the song much sadder.

Spelling Song: Mini Moni's Kazoue Uta is about counting in the bath in Japanese and English.

The same song had a Date version.

Mini Moni also had a song that listed all the Japanese Prefectures and their respective Capitals- in fact Mini Moni's songs were aimed at young children, so many had an educational message of some kind. This was more important during their stage shows.

Spell My Name with an "S": Most of the Coconuts Musume members were from Hawaii, therefore they had English names (April, Danielle, Lehua). There's also Viyuden (or Biyuden, Viyuuden, Biyuuden, v-u-den, etc). Junjun and Linlin are nicknamed as such because the management thought it would be too hard for fans to pronounce. Li Chun became Junjun and Qian Lin became Linlin.

Stage Names: Tsunku's real name is Terada Mitsuo. Li Chun and Qian Lin are Junjun and Linlin respectively, Honda Ruru was RuRu, and Miyoshi Chinatsu's real name is Tani Rumiko. Tsuji Nozomi changed her surname to Sugiura upon marriage, but she has stated that she will continue to use Tsuji. Similarly, Iida Kaori has continued to use her maiden name professionally. Ice CreaMusume's names are all nicknames.

Third-Person Person and Verbal Tic: 20-year-old Tanaka Reina usually refers to herself in third person (actually a common practice in Japanese culture), and occasionally splices her given name into everyday phrases, with results like "Ganbareina!", "Otsukareina!" and "Shitsureina!".

Token Mini-Moe: Not so token, most members of the major groups début at around 13 years old, some of the Eggs started at 10.

Up to Eleven: At one time Morning Musume had 15 members, and various Shuffle groups have had 11 or more members.

Vitriolic Best Buds: Fujimoto Miki towards Matsuura Aya: observe. However it really went both ways and they are actually best friends. Similarly Yoshizawa Hitomi and Ogawa Makoto and Yaguchi Mari and Ishikawa Rika teased one another quite harshly at times.

Except for the first version the lyrics of Joshi Kashimashi Monogatari sometimes have an element of this as each verse from version 2 on is sung by the person it's about with other members of the group chiming in at the end.

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